


Never Been Prouder

by hmweasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, International Fanworks Day 2015, Star Wars fanboy Ron Weasley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 19:50:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6022624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/pseuds/hmweasley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ron's stuck at another boring holiday at his in-laws' house. Then his father-in-law shows Ron Star Wars and basically changes his entire life. When Episode VII is released nine years later, Ron isn't about to miss it. Or deprive his kids of the experience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Been Prouder

**Author's Note:**

> I ran out of time with this, so the ending is not exactly what I had hoped for. It's also entirely unedited, so I'm sure the story has more than it's fair share of embarrassing mistakes. I may go back and fix it later on, but of course, I wanted to get it up today.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it at any rate. I was very happy to write a Harry Potter fic after so long.

Another holiday season, another full day spent at his muggle in-laws house trying to occupy himself.

They’d already eaten. Bryan and Claire had been in awe when Ron and Hermione magically cleaned the kitchen and dining table in a near instant for another year in a row. They’d been doing this for several years now, and Ron knew that boredom was always the next step for him. Hermione and her mum were excitedly talking about the baby that would be born in a few months. Bryan had turned on that one muggle game called football.

Ron had gotten the impression that Bryan expected the game to entertain Ron too, but it didn’t. He’d tried quite hard at first, not having anything else to do, but he couldn’t get into the game. It was so dull in comparison to Quidditch. That was all Ron could think as he watched the people running around, kicking the ball to each other.

Not only did it all feel pointless to Ron, the game also stretched on forever. Quidditch never felt this long.

He found his attention wandering. Itching to move, Ron began investigating the shelves around the living room. He made his way through old photos and artwork that the Grangers had sitting around. Eventually, he found shelves full of foreign-looking items.

The little rectangular things were DVDs. He’d been told that in the past with the explanation of what they did. The larger things on the lower shelf were VHS tapes. Apparently they were older and beginning to be replaced by the DVDs. These were the shelves that had interested him more than anything else about the muggles when they were explained to him.

One long picture or portrait that you just sat and watched for a couple of hours. Ron didn’t quite understand it, but he did admit that it held appeal to him.

Some of the titles and covers felt stranger than others. Ron’s eyes scanned the row before tugging one titled Star Wars out from the row.

“Ah. You picked out a good one.”

A bit startled, Ron looked over his shoulder to see his father-in-law grinning at him.

“Star Wars,” the man continued, “that’s a classic to us muggles. One of the greatest movies ever made.”

Ron looked back down at the cover. Something about it had grabbed his attention more than the other DVDs, but he wasn’t sure what it had been. Looking at it closer now, it didn’t look that appealing to him.

Mr. Granger seemed to sense Ron’s disbelief. He reached over for the television remote, hitting some buttons and causing the screen to change. Ron watched with wide eyes. He’d never seen them do this. There was no longer any movement across the screen or any sound coming from the speakers. Instead, a stationary picture like what muggles kept in frames took up the screen with the words ‘DVD’ across it. Ron figured it must have something to do with getting the thing he held in his hand to work.

“Let’s watch it then,” Mr. Granger said, standing up and taking the DVD from Ron’s hand. 

Ron shrugged and settled back down on the couch. He still felt skeptical, but anything was better than muggle sports. He tried to figure out what Mr. Granger was doing as he took out the disc and inserted it in a box-like thing. He watched, mesmerized, as the screen began to move again.

When the opening music finally started and text began to roll across the screen, Ron could hardly look away.

It was mesmerizing. Ron had little to compare it to, never having experienced more than random bits and pieces of muggle films in the past, but this was unlike anything he had ever seen. Never before had he been so impressed by muggle ingenuity. Their cars and their microwaves and all of that had always felt to Ron like poor imitations of what could be accomplished with magic, but this...This was something wizards didn’t have. Moving photographs didn’t come close, and even the boring sports that were the bulk of Ron’s previous TV watching experiences paled in comparison.

Hermione and her mother had joined them by the time the film ended. Ron felt a twinge of disappointment.

That night Ron went home with an intense need for more.

Nine Years Later

Ron couldn’t stop twitching in line. He used his height to his advantage, watching the line move over everyone else’s heads, but even so, he kept rising onto his toes as if it would help him see better. He bobbed up and down, energy coursing through his veins.

“Ron,” Hermione groaned beside him, not for the first time in the last five minutes. “For heaven’s sake. It’s not moving that slowly.”

“I don’t want to be late.”

“We’re two hours early,” Hermione reminded him with a roll of her eyes. “You wouldn’t settle for anything less.”

“And I was right. Look at this mess. These muggles,” he ignored Hermione shushing him, “really know how to pack into a place. It’s exciting. We should do this more often. What’s some other muggle movie coming out soon?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione replied dismissively. “And it wouldn’t be like this anyway. Cinemas are usually busiest on weekends, but not like this.”

“Of course not.” Ron felt his excitement rising again. “A new Star Wars, Hermione. A new Star Wars. It’s amazing. Everyone in the world is going to want to see it.”

Hermione smirked at him. She’d complained several times about coming on opening day instead of once things had calmed down, but Ron knew she found his excitement amusing. She’d always viewed his Star Wars obsession as a nice change for his usual uncaring attitude towards muggle culture.

The line did move forward. Ron watched eagerly as Hermione handled the transaction, grabbing the tickets she had bought off the Internet from the guy behind the counter. Ron still hadn’t figured out how that worked. Hermione had just taken care of it after Ron’s pleas.

“Here you go,” Hermione told him with a grin, handing him his ticket. She continued handing out slips of thick paper to Rose and Hugo.

Ron felt a surge of pride knowing he was sharing this moment with his kids. Neither one of them quite appreciated the moment. Ron had eagerly shown them the previous movies over the last several weeks, but they were too young to realize how momentous of an occasion this was.

“Come on, Rosie,” Ron urged, encouraging his daughter to hand her ticket over to the staff member like Hermione had told him too. They got inside easily, causing Ron to breathe a sigh of relief. He never completely believed he could pull off behaving like a muggle until after it had gone well.

The theater was already busy when they entered the dark room. Ron couldn’t help but turn back and give Hermione a told-you-so look. It wasn’t often he got to experience that. She ignored him, helping settle the kids into two seats between them.

Ron’s knee bounced up and down. They had a long wait, and he couldn’t keep still.

The minutes dragged on and on. Finally, the lights dimmed further, making it difficult to see around them. Ron’s heart sped up as he tried to prepare himself for something that was impossible to prepare for.

He was ready to become a changed man.

More Than Three Hours Later

“Did you see it?” Eight-year-old Rose chanted excitedly to her little brother, who looked just as excited but wasn’t keen on rambling about it like she was.

Ron followed them out of the theater, large smile on his face. There might have been a few tears in his eye as he watched both his kids react so well to their first Star Wars theater experience. Okay. Maybe he was also a little emotional over it being his own first Star Wars theater experience.

Hermione’s hand slipped into his, but Ron couldn’t take his eyes away from their kids until Hermione spoke.

“This is really the proudest moment of your life, isn’t it?” she said in disbelief. “You’re not even going to get this emotional when they start at Hogwarts or move out.”

Ron just shrugged, not trusting his voice.

Hermione may not have been able to appreciate the beauty of the experience, but he could appreciate it enough for the both of them.


End file.
